Photos of pulvini, etc on Byblis guehoi and rorida

[gregallan]

I have taken a few shots of some of the parts of my B guehoi and rorida plants. Given the sensitive nature of the debates surrounding these plants, a quasi-legal caveat is necessary. The aim of this thread is to provide photographic information for those who are interested. Any comments I make are merely expressions of my own opinions, and are not intended to be authoritative in any way. I have not had a great deal of time to take, resize, upload and post the photos. They are by no means a comprehensive scientific survey of my plants, and not all are great photos. Any errors or omissions are not a deliberate attempt to mislead! It should also be noted that I am using the names under which I obtained the seed. Finally, I will be distributing seed to a few members of this and other forums. I will be extremely interested to see how these plants grow in different conditions.

First, B guehoi. I grew all of my B guehoi plants from seed labelled 'B guehoi 'Kimberley'. I grow my plants indoors on a sunnny windowsill. The only one that has branched is one whose growing point was damaged. Unfortunately, I neglected to take note of exactly which individual plants these photos came from. They are, however, all of one of two plants growing in the same pot. One of these plants is the branching one, the other does not branch. Other than the branching, I have not noticed any discernible difference in structure between the two plants.



Photo 1: Byblis guehoi: pulvini clearly visible


Photo 2: B guehoi: closeup of pulvinus


Photo 3: B guehoi: pulvinus again, with flower. NB: the flowers were mainly closed when I took these photos- closeups of the flowers (and the whole plants) can be found in this thread icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=byblis&action=display&thread=3193


Photo 4: B guehoi: pulvinus again


Photo 5: B guehoi: growing point

[gregallan]

Following are some shots of Byblis rorida. The are all from seed labelled Byblis rorida 'Lake Campion'. Unlike B guehoi, which I currently only grow on a sunny windowsill, I grow some B rorida on the same windowsill and some in my greenhouse. All were started in my heated terrarium, and moved to their current locations when they are a few inches high.



Photo 6: Byblis rorida, windowsill grown: pulvini are clearly visible. This is a relatively old plant, which 'snakes' somewhat. The pulvini are pushing the pedicals in the opposite direction of the growing point (i.e.- if the stem were straight, the pedicels would be pointing downwards. They do point downwards if the stem is extended so as to be straight).


Photo 7: B rorida, windowsill grown again, the same plant as photo 6: another illustration of the pulvini- again, because of the undulating stem, 'upside down'


Photo 8: B rorida, windowsill grown, the same plant as photos 6 & 7: view of pulvini again with mature seed pod- once again, 'upside down'.


Photo 9: B rorida, windowsill grown, the same plant as photos 6, 7 & 8: growing point: sessile glands can be seen (contrast with photo 5)


Photo 10: B rorida, windowsill grown, the same plant as photos 6, 7, 8 & 9: growing point again, more of a close up shot


Photo 11: B rorida, windowsill grown, different plant from photos 6-10. Again, sessile glands can be seen


Photo 12: B rorida, windowsill grown (not sure which actual plant); closeup of flower- anthers clearly longer than filaments

[gregallan]

The next set of photos are of B rorida plants being grown in the greenhouse.


Photo 13: Byblis rorida, greenhouse grown, no pulvini appear to be present


Photo 14: B rorida, greenhouse grown, same plant as photo 13: developing seed pods can be seen, but no pulvini


Photo 15: B rorida, greenhouse grown, same plant as photos 13 and 14: open seed pod with seed


Photo 16: B rorida, greenhouse grown, same plant as photos 13-15: stem, nearer the growing point, are these small pulvini? Maybe, due to the greenhouse conditions, they do not develop further?


Photo 17: B rorida, greenhouse grown, same plant as photos 13-16: growing point, sessile glands visible


Photo 18: for comparison, B filifolia in the greenhouse, the same distincitve sessile glands are not visible.


Photo 19: B rorida, greenhouse grown, same plant as photos 13-17:closeup of flower, showing anthers and filaments


Photo 20: B rorida, greenhouse grown, different plant from photos 13-17 and 19: a rather weedy specimen, but, again, the anthers are longer than the filaments


Photo 21: greenhouse grown plant, growing in the same pot as the plant in photos 13-17 and 19. The anthers here are not longer than the filaments. Maybe it is a B liniflora hitchhiker (given my rather limited growing space, not particualarly unlikely), or maybe the length of the anthers is variable.


Photo 22: same plant as photo 21. No sessile glands are visible on the growing point. Perhaps further evidence that this is a hitchhiker? Evidence of variability?

Any comments on the significance or lack thereof of the features noted in these photos are very welcome.

[stevestewart]

Greg,

These are great photographs of beautiful plants! Not that I am any authority of Byblis, but I am now convinced that B. rorida is unique from any Byblis I have grown or accidentally killed! It is good that you are able to show differences of greenhouse grown plants from windowsill plants. There are many separate environmental conditions your plants experience (indoors & greenhouse) that could influence your plants, and they are still discernable.
Thank you for clearing up my perspective of these two Byblis species and making other members of the forum look very closely at plants that were once taken for granted!

Thank you,
Steven Stewart

[cindy]

Hi Greg,

Sorry for the newbie questions...

Sessile glands do not have the glue droplets on them and are found only on B. rorida right?

Also, I noticed that some of your B. rorida plants are red. Are they getting a lot more sunlight than the green ones?

Thanks!

[Brian Barnes]

Hello Everyone,

Excellent photos and observations! It's refreshing to see that the 'Pandora's Box' of Byblis has been opened by more than just myself....Alas!

Greg,

Yes, those are pulvini on B. rorida in photo 15 and "B. guehoi" as well!

I've noticed that with B. 'Goliath', the pulvini are somewhat conditional, depending on cultivative circumstances. However, the pulvini present on flower pedicels are greatly enhanced in size and form much quicker than usual, upon successful pollination of the flower. You're photos and comments say alot and l greatly look forward to yours and the conclusions and theorem from other Byblis growers!

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the supposed "B. liniflora hitchhiker" you speak of is just a different seedling variant of the prior mentioned. The diversity that can be achieved by the cross-pollination of select propagules can be amazing. I imagine that this scenario would be even more possible 'in situ', given the fact that many more variants are available. Your findings further point to my pet theorem of most Byblis 'in situ' being of hybrid nature, and thus being void of any distinct characteristics than can be used to positively identify them as separate deserving species.....since VERY few have traits that are stable enough to be used in such discernment.

I've been conducting very controlled experiments on this diversity phenomenon for the last 3 months, and will be posting my conclusions with photos next week. I believe that the results will surprise many! Meanwhile, here's my latest findings. Please excuse the low-quality due to poor, cloudy lighting conditions. All plants are greenhouse grown, in identical lighting and temperature conditions.

Byblis 'Goliath' with various sepal and filament lengths, all on one single plant;





Here's the same plant as above, after having been grown in very wet, flooded conditions for a period of 4 weeks. Note the change in growth habit, pedicel to leaf size ratios and leaf formation/shape as a direct result. Also, there are slight differences in tentacle lengths between the newer growth and the older.




Lastly, here's the result of a controlled experiment regarding branching of decumbent main-stems in the genus Byblis. This experiment was inspired by the existing photos of "B. aquatica" 'in situ', which usually show a long, main stem lying in very wet conditions, with various ascending growth tips. The depicted plant below was creased at various lengths and placed on it's side, with the creases touching wet sphagnum. The plant almost immediately began producing shoots at the leaf junctions closest to the creases. Notice that no rooting is evident. I've also removed the top part of the main stem to better photograph the branching anomaly itself.
This would definitely give the appearance of a "multi-headed" plant or a thriving semi-aquatic species 'in situ'. Also, Byblis 'Goliath' does take on a reddish coloration when grown in full, unfiltered sun, or a change in daytime/evening temperatures.



Stay tuned for more results. I look forward to everyone else's as well. Thanks for sharing!!

Happy Growing,

Brian.

[gregallan]

Thanks for all of the replies and comments- much appreciated. Very interesting photos, Brian. I look forward to more.